June Allyson

Though one of Hollywood's most popular actresses of the late 1940s and early
1950s, June Allyson was atypical among movie stars of the period. Under
contract for eleven years to Hollywood's most glamorous studio,
MGM, whose roster of stars included
Ava Gardner and
Lana Turner, Allyson was perhaps the
least glamorous leading lady on the lot. Her blonde pageboy haircut,
modest, Peter Pan collars, sandpapered voice with a low squeak, and squinty
smile made her one of America's favorite girls-next-door. The perky
optimism and wholesomeness she exuded onscreen contributed to the appeal of all
her characters, be they spunky tomboys, supportive wives or even lonely war
widows (whose heart-aching plight was easily evinced by the absence of Allyson's usual
joie de vie). And at a studio whose headliners included
Judy Garland and
Gene Kelly where Allyson could hardly
be considered a singing or dancing talent, her infectious energy and bright
personality not only launched her film career in a series of musical shorts in
the late 1930s, but also carried her through almost a dozen feature-length movie
musicals. Her acting talents lacked the range necessary to transition her
into the more gritty, "method acting" movies that eventually came to dominate
the screen in the late 1950s, but what she could do, she did well, and as a result, in
the immediate post-war years, June Allyson was exactly what every red-blooded,
all-American G.I. wanted to come home to.